Losing Heart
by seattlegracegirl
Summary: When Erica and Callie's little girl, Jess, goes missing, will they hold together, or lose each other too?
1. Chapter 1

Erica had never really seen herself having kids. It just didn't figure into her life plan. Plus the fact she would have to have found herself a father for the kid.

That was until she met Callie Torres, and fell for her big style. Her sexuality was never something she had questioned till then, but after what she considered a thorough analysis (the dating and sleeping with Callie) she came to the conclusion that she was extremely gay.

It took a while for gay to have both its meanings with Erica, both a lesbian and happy. But after some forgiving and opening up on both sides, she and Callie managed to make a working relationship. A damn good relationship. Callie had helped to open Erica up to the wonders of what an active love life could do for your mood, and shown her that sometimes the simple things in life were the best, and deserved to be treasured.

Just as she now treasured their little girl, Jessica. It turned out that having a kid with Callie did figure into her life plan. It wasn't something she was pushed into by Callie, but something she found she wanted naturally with the beautiful Latina. It had come to a surprise to Callie, but she certainly wasn't adverse to it. From the moment the words had left the blonde's lips, Callie was as in love with the idea as she was with Erica. They didn't rush into anything, and made sure that at every turn they talked through each and every detail, keeping them both in the same page.

In the end, after Callie's pleading, they had used Erica's eggs. The Latina had appealed to the blonde's sense of reason, saying that her genes would live on through her brothers and her sister, whereas Erica, as the only child, only had one chance to pass her genes on. And supplying the much needed male component, the pair had decided to finally let Mark Sloan have his little fantasy of a threesome…only without the sex. He had willingly donated to their cause, surprised that Erica had let any part of him anywhere near her. Erica stuck with reason to explain her decisions, never once admitting to him her decision partly came down to the fact he did have pretty good genes, and that having gotten to know him through Callie, she did actually trust him, and after the whole little Sloan debacle, he deserved to see some happiness come out of him helping to create a child. The one aspect that was never up for debate, was who was to carry the child. Callie had always wanted kids, and Erica would never be the one to take that away from her. Besides, she not-so-secretly loved having Callie to dote over, and she never once complained about her heightened sex drive.

And seven years later, she still wasn't complaining. She had a gorgeous little blonde haired angel (although she could be a little devil at times). Everything had changed, and Erica Hahn was definitely one of them. If you asked Yang, now a practicing cardio attending under Erica, what happened to the Ice Queen, she would tell you she hadn't changed, and unless you seen the Head of Cardio with her daughter or her beloved bone-breaker, you would be inclined to believe her. If, however, you got a rare glimpse of the Cardio Goddess with her little girl balanced on her hip, or indeed anywhere within the immediate vicinity, you would swear hands down that the Ice Queen had melted completely and been replaced by a completely different woman.

The kind of women who, on a sunny day would take her daughter to the zoo so that she could tell her mom absolutely everything she had ever learned about the animals from all the animal documentaries she watched. Erica often swore that somehow Callie's genes got muddled up in their little girl at some point during those long nine months the amount the seven year old would ramble on. So many of the little girl's traits took after Callie, and Erica was glad. She loved seeing glimpses of Callie in her, hearing little bits of Callie in the way she spoke.

"And you know that giraffe's don't have loads and loads of bones in their neck, they just have some, but they're bigger so that's how they get their biiiiig necks," Jess informed Erica as she dragged her along, seemingly having had enough of the giraffes.

"Has your mommee been talking bones to you again?" Erica asked, laughing.

Jess shook her head, blonde curls bouncing. "Nope. Not this time. It was the man with the funny hair on the animal channel. He showed you the see-insides and everything."

Erica couldn't help but grin at her daughter's adorableness. 'See-insides' were in fact x-rays, but Jess found this a ridiculous name for them, when they clearly showed what was inside a person, so they should just be called see-insides. It was a name that had unfortunately caught on somewhat in their little households, and had left the doctor's in a few awkward situations when they had mistakenly asked interns who weren't in on the re-name for a patient's 'see-insides', only to be met with blank stares.

"Come on mom, I wanna go see the lions ROAAAR!" squealed Jess, pulling her along as she continued to do her best impression of a mighty lion. She came to an abrupt halt as Jess stopped about six feet away from the enclosure, her eyes wide as she looked on at the huge cats. They were somewhat of a fascination of the little girls, to the extent that her room was decorated with big cat posters and she went to bed every night with a little cuddly lion she had had since she was a baby.

It was then that Erica heard the scream behind her. She turned to the source of the sound; a woman catching onto the handle of a pushchair and quickly kicking on the breaks as she breathed a sigh of relief. Turning her eyes back to the front Erica froze. Jess wasn't in front of her where she had been. "Jess?" Erica stepped forward, looking for her closer to the enclosure, hoping to find Jess had just taken a few steps closer to her favourite animals. "Jess? Jessica?" She checked the entire way around the enclosure, still calling her name. She could feel her chest tighten every second her little girl was out of her sight. "Jess?" She was screaming now, frantically looking for her daughter.

She felt strong hands clamp her upper arms and silenced herself.

"Miss? Is there something wrong?" Erica took a moment to take in the uniform of the zoo before launching into her answer.

"My little girl, she was just here," she gestured with her hand to the spot right in front of her. "And now she's not, and she's not answering me, she was just here." Erica went on repeating herself until she could no longer breathe, and was sat down on a nearby bench by the zoo worker, who alerted all staff through his radio to be on the lookout for a little girl, giving the best description he could from what he had gathered from Erica, who sat hyperventilating beside him, tears trailing down her face as she continued to scan the nearby area for any trace of her little angel.

"Miss, I've put the radio call out, and I'm also going to call the police, just following our protocol. But likely, she'll have wandered off to see the zebras and we'll find her safe and sound."


	2. Chapter 2

**I only realised after posting the first chapter of this that I hadn't put in my little author's note! So, to remedy that, I'll add it in now!**

**Thanks to everyone who has read Under The Gun - it's nice to know people are still interested in reading Callica. This story is less AU, and a lot less happy, but I hope you still enjoy it! I'm still working on MSC and hope to start posting updates on that soon, but as I'm still in the middle of my SwanQueen story, updates will be rather irregular I'm afraid.**

**And as usual - I'd love to know what you think whether it's good, bad or somewhere in the middle!**

The last thing Mark Sloan expected to hear when he answered his cell to a call from Erica Hahn was the official voice of a police officer and the sound of Erica crying hysterically in the background.

"Am I speaking to Mark Sloan?"

"Yes," he answered, unsure of what to make of the situation.

"You know Erica Hahn?"

"I'm a colleague and a friend," Mark replied, wondering why of all people he was being called.

There was the noise of the police officer clearing his through before he spoke again. "Is there any possibility that you could come down to Seattle Zoo and help us with Ms Hahn, we're, uh, finding her a little difficult to deal with."

"Can I ask what all this is about?" Mark asked, genuinely concerned now.

"I think it's a matter best discussed in person, although I will say that it concerns her daughter, Jessica."

Mark had his car keys and coat before the police officer could say another word.

"Erica?" Mark had been directed towards the area the minute he had arrived at the front reception of the Zoo. She turned to him, eyes red from all the tears she had cried. "What the hell is going on?"

He watched her swallow and take a deep breath, trying to get herself under control. "It's Jess. She, she was just here…and then she was gone." And then she broke down all over again.

"Mr Sloan?"

Mark turned to the source of the voice he recognized from the phone. "Yeah."

"I gather you understand what has happened here?"

"Jessica is missing?" Mark said aloud and watched as Erica crumbled a little more.

"Yes. We've searched the park thoroughly, and found nothing, and we now believe that she has been removed from the premises," sighed the police officer. Mark stepped away from Erica, out of her earshot.

"You're sure?"

"As sure as we can be. Now, Mr Sloan, if you wouldn't mind, we need to take a statement from Ms Hahn, ask her a few questions, now, is there any chance you could try and help calm her down?"

Mark turned towards Erica, who looked more broken than he thought possible. "I can try." He gently sat Erica back down on the bench she had been sat down on earlier and forced her to look at him. "Erica, they want to ask you some questions, okay, you need to answer them." He watched as she tried and failed to put on the façade of Dr Hahn, and failed miserably. She couldn't even summon a single second of composure. Reaching out, he took her hands in his. "Do you want me to call Callie?"

"NO!"

"Erica, she needs to know, and I think you need her t-"

She gripped his hands tighter. "I lost her little girl, how do I tell her that?"

At this the police officer looked confused. "Her daughter? I'm sorry who are we having to inform? Mr Sloan, I assumed you were the father and that Ms Hahn here was the mother?"

Mark took it upon himself to explain. "Technically, I am the father, in as much as I'm the sperm donor. Erica and her partner, Callie Torres are the actual parents."

"_Having a pair of dykes for parents, she probably ran away."_ Mark heard it and hoped Erica hadn't. When she suddenly launched herself at the uniformed officer that stood behind them he knew different. He grabbed her around the waist, but not before she landed a punch on the guys jaw, flooring him. He held tight, and barely succeeded in holding her back from doing worse. _Callie wasn't kidding when she said Erica had serious muscles._

"Get him outta here," shouted the officer who had been asking the questions. "Ms Hahn, I am so sorry about that."

Mark held onto her as she struggled and then went completely limp in his arms, unconscious. He scooped her up, cradling her in his arms and ignoring the worried look on the police officer's face. It wasn't the first time he had seen the blonde collapse after an overly emotional outburst. She would come to soon. "Is there somewhere else we can do this?"

"I can send an officer with you to the house, ask her the questions there, where she might be calmer?"

"I'll drive her," Mark said, already starting to walk away. Then he paused, turning, "Can I ask, why was I called?"

The police officer sighed. "We couldn't get much sense out of her, and when we asked for a recent photograph she just handed over her purse and her cell. We saw the ring and assumed we were looking for a father, fiancé, husband, anyone to help us make sense of her and you were the most frequently called male on her cell." The officer paused. "I'll send our specialist female officer over, she's good with…difficult situations."


	3. Chapter 3

Erica woke up in Mark's car, thoroughly confused. "Oh God, it did happen, didn't it?"

Mark nodded. It was all he could do. "I'm taking you home. There's a police officer going to come and ask you some more questions, take a proper statement." He took a deep breath. "And I called Callie."

A look of absolute terror took over Erica's face. "What do I say to her?" She screwed her eyes shut tight against the inevitable tears, pulling at the sleeve on her cardigan as she tried to breath.

Callie was still in a state of disbelief. How could anyone just _take_ Jess. Her little Jess. She was leaning against the front of her car, head in her hands when Mark pulled up, and Erica hurriedly stumbled from the car, starting to apologise before she even got near Callie.

"What the hell?" Callie shouted, more out of a need to vent at someone than any actual anger towards the woman she loved. "You lost her and you didn't think to call?"

"Callie, I'm sorry, I don't know how it happened. I only looked away for a second! I swear!" There was nothing Callie could say as Erica fell on her knees in front of her. She was too absorbed in her own emotions to be able to offer her anything right then. She slumped down on the front steps, her head cradled in her hands, hot tears streaming down her face.

Mark hated emotional women, and two women at breaking point right in front of him was almost too much to bare. The fact that they also happened to be his friends, and the moms of his sperm made it all the harder, but he know he couldn't afford to break down too. He had to do his best to be supportive in this. He loved Jess to pieces, loved that they let him play a part in her life as 'uncle' Mark, and he was breaking now too, but he had to be the guy in all of this. He had to be strong for them, if they were to get through this. He put his hand on Erica's shoulder, "Come on, we'll get you inside."

She pushed herself up and started towards the house, stopping at Callie, who was still hunched over, sobbing. Mark put a gentle hand on Erica's back, guiding her past Callie and inside. He then settled down in front of Callie, waiting until she looked up and acknowledged him. "Come on, get up. People don't need to see you like this."

"They've seen me worse," she sighed, briefly remembering the times she had pleaded with Erica to let her in, standing on her lawn and shouting up at the house, or the time she had nipped out to put something in the back bin and locked herself out in her underwear, meaning she then had to go next door for the spare key. Mark pulled her up and led her inside, closing the door behind him.

Callie immediately went to the couch and threw herself down, hugging one of the throw cushions. Mark stood in the doorway, listening for Erica. Footsteps and doors opening upstairs told him where she was. "It wasn't her fault, you know." He wouldn't admit it out loud, but he truly was worried about Erica. He could never even have guessed she was capable of such a huge outpouring of emotion, and it scared him a little, to see just how broken she was. "She would have called you Cal, but she was in pieces. It was the police who called me. They saw the ring and they assumed she was married. I didn't know what it was all about until I got there, and I didn't want to call you and worry you until I knew." He sat on the coffee table opposite her. "She could barely breathe, Cal, never mind use her cell."

Callie sighed and sat forward, her arms resting on her knees. "I just don't get how it could happen. She's always so careful, it's me who throws her around, chases her everywhere."

"She looked terrified when I said I'd called you," he said quietly. "Terrified you knew. She thinks she failed you." He knew Callie, but at that moment, he had no idea what was going through her head. Her angry reaction outside had shocked him slightly. It had been months since he had so much as heard a raised voice from the passionate woman. It seemed her relationship with Erica was just that happy.

"I don't blame her, Mark. No matter what she thinks, I could never blame her. I just…I don't what to think. Don't know what to do. Don't know what I can do!"

Mark caught her gesturing hands. "We'll find her. We'll get her back. God, if she's got half of Erica's stubbornness she'll be walking back home now!" He knew it was a promise he shouldn't make, but he needed Callie to have some hope.

Callie had to smile a little at that. Jessica definitely had Erica's stubbornness. She had so much of Erica in her, the curls of her golden hair, and what Callie loved most of all, those amazing blue eyes.

Their moment, however, was interrupted by a knock at the door. Mark went to get up, but Callie waved him to sit back down. He had to admit, he was impressed at how well she was handling this. The Callie he had once knew would have broken down completely, been incapable of being any use to anyone, but that Callie was gone. Callie was the strong one now, he realised. He watched as she returned with another woman, who he could only presume was the officer that had been promised to come over. Callie invited the young woman to sit down and offered her tea or coffee.

"I'll come through with you," she said, following Callie through to the kitchen as she explained. "I'm with the behavioral analysis unit, we're working with the police to try and find your daughter. I was looking to talk to Erica Hahn."

Callie took a moment to take the young blonde in with her straight hair, genuine caring expression and slight frame, who had introduced herself as JJ. "She's upstairs, I think."

The woman nodded. "How are you holding up?"

"I, I think I'm coping. I just don't understand who would want to take her. Or how they could take her, Erica is always so careful." Callie felt like she was repeating herself every time she mentioned Erica, but all Callie could think was that she _was_ always so careful with Jess, never letting her out of her sight. She sat at one of the stools at the counter, JJ taking the one opposite while Mark busied himself with the tea, only interrupting to ask the young agent what she took.

"We're trying to build up a profile of the person who took her, so that we have the best chance of finding her," JJ explained. "Would you mind if I asked you a few questions?"

Callie shrugged. "I don't how much use I can be, I wasn't there, but I'll answer anything if you think it'll help."

"Everything we can learn helps us to build up a better picture," JJ tried a reassuring smile. "You said that Erica is always careful with Jessica?"

Callie nodded vigorously. "Always. Whenever she takes her out she always makes sure she can see her, and usually barely even lets go of her hand, especially if it's a busy place."

"So it would be difficult for someone to have taken Jessica without her noticing?"

Again Callie nodded. "I honestly don't know how anyone could have. But I've been at work all day, I don't know what else I can tell you that might help. I haven't really spoken to Erica since this morning."

"It might be best if we go over things with Ms H-"

"Dr," Callie interrupted, not able to help herself. "Dr Hahn, she hates being called Ms. Sorry, it's a habit."

JJ nodded, starting to see the bond between the two women. "Then maybe it would be best if I could talk to Dr Hahn now."

"I'll go and find her," said Mark, again looking for something to do, anything that might be helpful. He stepped out of the kitchen to see Erica sitting on the stairs, clutching the little lion Jess liked to carry with her. It had belonged to Jess as a baby, and the little girl had taken it everywhere, until one day when Callie had brought her in to see her other mommee at work, and the pair had found Erica quietly crying in her office after losing a patient. Jess had given the little lion to Erica, telling her to keep it and remember to be big and brave just like a lion. Erica had been unable not to smile at her adorable little girl, who had then proceeded to give her roaring lessons right there in her office, much to the confusion of passing colleagues.

"Erica, the agent wants to speak to you. She's a criminal profiler working with the police," he explained as she pushed herself up off of the stairs and shuffled through to the kitchen, taking the stool next to Callie, but not quite being able to meet her eyes. She could feel herself tearing up as she talked through the moments leading up to Jess going missing, felt herself struggle for breath. She glanced up as Callie pressed one of her inhalers into her palm, giving her a weak smile.

"Dr Hahn, you said you looked away, was the-"

"It was just for a second, I swear, just a second," Erica instantly told her.

"I'm not saying it wasn't Dr Hahn, I was only going to ask, was there something in particular that made you look away, something that distracted you?"

"Uh, yes." Erica closed her eyes, trying to remember. "There was a woman. She screamed and I looked round, she had just caught hold of the handle of her pushchair. It looked like she'd forgotten to put the breaks on and it had rolled away from her."

"Do you remember anything else, what this woman looked like?"

"Meredith," Erica sighed. Then shook her head, realizing that the name meant nothing to the agent.

"Hang on." Callie got up and returned a few minutes later with a photo album. It was the pictures from their wedding. Callie stopped and pointed at one they had taken of Meredith and Christina trying to help Callie with her dress.

Erica nodded. "She looked a lot like her, but a little bit bigger, and her hair was darker, and her skin a little lighter, but she looked a lot like her facially."

The agent nodded. "Could I borrow this for a few moments, so that I can send a picture to my colleagues and tell them what you've told me."

"Take it," Erica pushed the album in her direction and she nodded, leaving the room with it as she dialed on her cell. Callie put her hand over Erica's, only to have Erica stand back up. "I'm going to back upstairs."

Callie could only nod, watching as Erica went. "I don't know what to do with her…"


	4. Chapter 4

Erica could hear Callie pacing downstairs, and wanted to go to her, to reassure it would all be okay, but she couldn't. She couldn't go to her and make such promises, because she was filled with dread that they had lost their little girl, for good. The though again brought tears to her eyes, and once again the fear that Callie would blame her, and never forgive her took over her emotions.

"Callie?"

Callie turned to face the agent who sat on her couch. "What?" Her voice was harsher than she meant, but the agent didn't seem to mind.

"Can I ask, has Erica ever self harmed? Or is she the sort of person who would?"

"What? No? She, she wouldn't…" Callie answered. Although at that moment, Callie didn't quite know what Erica would do. She had never seen her quite so broken. Even at her worst, Erica had always managed to pull herself together, but now, she could barely put a sentence together without breaking down in tears and needing her inhaler.

"I don't mean to worry you. It's just, I see this a lot. The guilt she'll be feeling now will be intense. And if she feels that you're also blaming her…"

"I don't blame her, how could I?" asked Callie, never once having thought to blame Erica.

"Does she know that?"

Callie turned her gaze towards the stairs.

"I'll come and find you if there's any news," JJ assured her.

Nodding, Callie slowly climbed the stairs, heading straight for Jessica's room. She slowly pushed open the door to see Erica curled up on the bed, clutching Jess's favourite New York Yankees hoody that Mark had bought her. Callie sat down on the edge of the bed and gently put a hand on Erica's shoulder, which she backed away from. Taking a deep breath, Callie crawled fully on the bed and tucked herself up behind Erica, spooning her, and not letting her move away when she tried to. "Erica, this wasn't you."

"But she was with me," came the whispered response. "I should have been looking after her!"

"Erica, you were." Callie fought back tears. It was tearing her apart to see Erica like this. It was enough to lose her daughter, she couldn't deal with the feeling that she was losing Erica too.

"No!" Erica sat up. "If I had been I would be holding her and not her fucking sweater!"

Callie watched the conflicting emotions cross Erica's face as she threw the sweater at the wall, where it fell in a crumpled heap. Ignoring her struggling, Callie pulled Erica into her, hugging her close. She could hear her whispering apologies in her ear, saying it was all her fault. Taking her by the shoulders, Callie held her back a little, making sure she met her eyes. "No, it's not your fault, and you know it! I'm the one who lets her run riot, chasing her around, you're the one who keeps her right there!"

"But she's not right here, is she?"

Callie once more pulled Erica close, both crying against the other's shoulder. She felt Erica clutch at her top, trying to pull her impossibly closer. Callie held onto Erica just as tightly, knowing they both needed to hold on to each other if they were going to get through this.

It was a while before either moved. Erica gently extracted herself from Callie's tight embrace, leaning back to rest their foreheads together. She could see the pain and fear in Callie's eyes, and knew it would be reflected in her own.

"You know I don't blame you for this," Callie whispered, but knowing that Erica heard.

Erica closed her eyes, and let a sigh of relief leave her lips. From Callie, that was all she needed to hear. She needed to know she didn't hate her today. "Thank you."

Callie moved to gently capture Erica's lips in a reassuring kiss, but was stopped by Erica's hand on her cheek. She opened her eyes to meet Erica's.

"You don't want to do that," Erica breathed.

Callie frowned, wanting to be able to at least give Erica that little bit of contact.

"I was sick earlier, I haven't freshened up," Erica admitted. She felt Callie's fingers gently stroke her own cheek and glanced up to meet her eyes.

"I don't care," the Latina breathed, leaning in. "I just need to feel I still have you." She gently touched her lips to the older woman's, and felt Erica give in, not fighting when she deepened the kiss, her fingers sliding into blonde locks.

It was the need for breath that finally forced them apart, but only enough to rest their foreheads together once more. Callie reached out and gently took Erica's hands in her own, toying with the tiny lion the blonde still held. "We gonna be big and brave in this?"

Erica managed a weak smile as she tried to blink back tears. "We're gonna be big and brave in this." Her voice for the first time since that morning was strong, its determined edge back. She straightened up, looking around the room. "I need to get out of here, Callie. I can't sit here, just sitting, looking at all her things. I need to feel like I'm doing something."

Taking her hand, Callie led her downstairs, hoping the agent might have something, anything to tell them. Seeing them, Mark was instantly on his feet, going to make more tea and coffee. Sitting with Callie on the couch, Erica turned to the agent. "Can I go down the police station or something? I just can't be here when she's not, when we don't know."

"I understand," the agent nodded. "And you're welcome to come down to the police station, although it can be stressful."

"I feel useless sitting here," Erica told her.

Again the agent nodded. "Actually, I think your purse and your cell phone are also down at the police station from this morning. You could pick those up too."

Callie slide her hand into Erica's, squeezing it gently, silently saying she was also coming. Then she kissed her on the cheek, moving through to the kitchen, where she found Mark fighting with the coffee machine. She put her hand on his arm, stopping him. "I'm going to go with Erica down to the police station. I don't think either of us can stand to be here when she's not." She paused. "Thank you, for being here…look, I know this is hard on you too, but I think it might be best if it's just me and Erica. I don't want you to feel like I'm shutting you out of this, but right now, I need her to know that I am there with her, and just her. She's gonna break again Mark, and I need to be the one to catch her." There were tears in her eyes once more as she continued. "If this ends badly…" She held up a hand to silence his interruption. "I can't lose her too. Right now, I'm trying not to think about Jess. I know that if I do, I'll lose it, so right now, I'm concentrating on Erica."

Mark nodded, tears in his own eyes. "You call me, if you need anything, if you hear anything. Either of you."

Callie let him pull her into his arms, only just managing to keep her own tears unshed.

He stepped back, wiping his eyes. "Sorry about the lack of coffee, by the way, I can't work your damn coffee machine!"

Callie was glad for his sudden change of topic. She needed every distraction she could get. "We'll get some elsewhere. Well, we better get going." She tried to keep a note of purpose in her voice.


	5. Chapter 5

**It's nice to see that a few people are still up for reading a bit of Callica. I know the ship sailed years ago, but it's still on my horizon, and I just wanted to get all of the stories that have been lingering around my dash forever cleared up and posted, so expect a few more updates pretty quickly.**

**I hope those of you who are reading are enjoying - I'd love to know what you think!**

Callie was glad not be at home. The silence would have driven her mad. Here, at the police station, the hustle and bustle of the offices provided distraction. And it also made her feel like something was being done to find her little girl. Since they had arrived, Erica hadn't sat down, but kept pacing in front of the window. Callie had given up trying to ask her to sit down. She understood that sometimes, there was a need to pace, and wasn't about to argue with Erica over nothing. Every so often she would reach out and catch Erica's hand, halting her for a moment, reminding her that she was still there. And then Erica would resume her pacing.

Each time a door would open, Erica would stop, staring in that direction until it was clear that there was no news, and then resume her pacing once more.

"Ms Torres…Hahn?"

Callie turned to the now familiar voice. Penelope Garcia, computer goddess, she had introduced herself. "It is Torres-Hahn, but I think by now you could call me Callie."

"Callie, right." The slightly nervous woman took the seat next to Callie, handing her another cup of coffee.

"Thank you," Callie nodded, taking the cup.

"It's the decent stuff, from my office," the woman smiled. "I have one for her too, but I guess I'll just be putting it beside the collection?" She reached over and put the cup down beside the four others Erica had left untouched. "How are you holding up?"

"Better than I thought," Callie admitted, turning to look at the woman beside her. She would have been cute and quirky in the way she looked if it wasn't for the sadness in her eyes, Callie thought. "I'm trying not to think about what might happen, I'm just concentrating on making sure Erica is okay. I can fall apart later as long as I still have her." She felt Garcia's hand cover hers. "Is there any news?"

"I wish I could say that there was."

Callie nodded. Every time she asked and got that answer a little bit more of her hope died.

"They're great at what they do," Garcia said with conviction. "Really, if anyone can find her it's them. Don't give up hope."

Callie glanced down at her cell phone again, reading another message of support, this time from Lexie. It was nice to know they had support in this. They were going to need it. Looking up from her phone, she watched Erica make another lap in front of the window. In the past hour Erica hadn't even glanced at her. She had avoided Callie reaching out for her, crossing her arms across her chest as she passed the Latina's hand. It hurt, but Callie took a deep breath and ignored the feeling for the moment. Now wasn't the time to get into an argument over such a little gesture. It wasn't until she felt the hand on her shoulder that she looked up from the floor again. "Bailey?"

"I was gonna call, but I wasn't too sure what to say, so I thought you might appreciate a hug instead," Bailey smiled as she took the seat next to Callie.

"You do hugs now?" Callie forced a small laugh.

Bailey shrugged, pulling the younger woman into her arms. "I do hugs now," she said, her tone gentle. "How you coping?"

"I don't want to have to…"

Bailey nodded, understanding that Callie was avoiding. "How about her?"

"She hasn't sat down yet, but she's been holding it together since we got here, so I suppose it's something," Callie shrugged.

Bailey saw the shrug and was surprised. In all the years she had known Callie, she had learned she was a physical person, so she knew this must be killing her. She had expected to find Callie clinging to Erica when she arrived, not watching her pace in front of a window. For a couple who couldn't get through lunch without holding hands and casual touches, this must be hell within hell. Looking towards the blonde doctor Bailey recognized features of the old Erica Hahn, her tense posture, straight set poker face… She had changed so much since then, Bailey thought. It would be a true shame for her to go back. Callie had been good for her, Jess had been a miracle.

"Erica?" Callie said softly.

The blonde turned, only now realizing Bailey was even there. "Miranda, hi. Er, thanks for coming down."

"You want to sit down for a while?" Callie asked gently.

"No, I'm good," Erica quickly replied, going back to her pacing.

Bailey turned to look at Callie, who just sighed, slumping back in her seat. "You look exhausted."

"I am. Long shift, then this…"

"You want to go home and get some rest? I can stay with Erica," Bailey offered.

Callie shook her head. "No, I can't, not while she's here. I'm not leaving her till we know." She paused. "And it's better being here. There's noise and there's people."

Bailey nodded, understanding. She would be the same if Tucker was the one who was missing. "You want some company for a while then?"

"That'd be nice," said Callie, taking her eyes off of Erica. "Could you maybe just talk to me about work, you, anything that isn't this?"

Bailey pulled Callie towards her so that her head was resting on her shoulder. "You want the OCD patient or the kid who tried to roll Arizona out of their room?"


	6. Chapter 6

"Hey," Garcia smiled, having gone on yet another coffee round. She quietly tiptoed over to where Erica was sitting on the floor, her arms drawn up around her knees. Callie was asleep lying across the chairs opposite, her head propped up on Erica's coat, her cardigan draped over her as a blanket. Lowering herself down, Garcia leant her back against the wall next to Erica, handing her the coffee. This time, Erica took the proffered mug, not caring that it was scalding as she took a sip. "You look tired. Maybe you should both go home, get some sleep."

Erica shook her head. "I can't go home. Not when I don't know if my little girl is ever coming home again."

"Do you want me to take you through to the lounge? Maybe you could both get some sleep there?" Garcia offered.

Again Erica shook her head. "No. I'm fine here. I like to see the people coming and going, and I really don't want to move her. I know she's probably not very comfortable but she just got to sleep a little while ago. If I wake her up I doubt she'd get back to sleep."

Garcia watched as Erica kept her eyes trained on Callie, silently sipping her coffee. She looked exhausted, her eyes puffy and tired from all the tears. "Look, why don't you come through to my office. I can go through what the team have come up with so far, show you what we're doing…and give you a comfy seat?" She knew she wasn't supposed to bring the families in, but she couldn't bear to see this woman sit on her own any longer.

"I thought I wasn't supposed to be in there?" In her hours of pacing she had sometimes paced a little further than the window, wandering into the office to listen and see if any progress had been made, only to be shepherded back out.

"Let me deal with them," Garcia smiled, taking Erica's hand in her own. Erica trailed after the quirky woman, who led her past the desks of her colleagues to her computer filled office. She was sat down in a leather computer chair, while Garcia took the chair in front of the wall full of computer screens. "So far, we've got every police officer in the area, and the surrounding districts on the lookout for your daughter, and a small incident line has been set up here for anyone with information," Garcia started, pulling up records to show Erica the reports which had come in so far. "So far, these are the calls we've had. None of them have turned up anything yet, but a lot of the time something as simple as this can be the start of everything we need."

Erica knew Garcia was taking pity on her, and for once, she didn't resent it. She was answering every question Erica asked, showing her all the avenues they were exploring, and in a way, it comforted Erica, to know that _something_ was being done.

Finally, Garcia pulled up the footage from the Zoo, now a series of stills, each of them showing Jess in some way. "Unfortunately, beside the big cat enclosures, there are only cameras pointing to actual big cat houses, the gates that lead to the enclosures, so there's nothing showing Jess directly beside the place she was taken."

"And nothing showing her after that?" Erica asked, her eyes settling on a slightly blurred CCTV still of her and Jess outside the Polar Bear enclosure, Jess wrapped up in her arms.

Garcia shook her head. "Nothing after that."

"How could they have gotten her out of there?" Erica sighed, shaking her head. That was the part that didn't make sense to her. Jess wasn't the quietest of kids. She would have screamed bloody murder at anyone she didn't know trying to take her.


	7. Chapter 7

Callie was awoken from her sleep by the sound of loud cries. She was awake instantly, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes as she sat up, taking in her surroundings. Her first thought was to find Erica, who was no longer pacing in front of the window. She turned towards the sound of the cries, her eyes settling on a dark haired woman being held by a slightly taller, broad shouldered man, both following two police officers. "Erica?"

"I'm here."

Callie turned to see Erica shuffle out of the main office the agents had been working in. She looked even more exhausted, dark rings under her eyes, her skin even paler than usual.

"Agent Garcia was going through what they were doing to find Jess," she explained, starting towards Callie.

"What happened to her?" Callie asked, nodding in the direction of the woman. Since they had arrived they had seen a fair few people come in, some arrested, some reporting crimes, but none with such a reaction as the pair who had just walked in.

"I don't know," Erica shrugged, coming to stand behind Callie. She smoothed her hands over her shoulders, gently rubbing the tension from her muscles.

Callie relaxed into the gesture, just glad Erica was voluntarily touching her after she had withdrawn so much yesterday.

"You hungry?" Erica asked, leaning her head on Callie's shoulder. She had realised in the time she had spent talking to Garcia the night before that she had been neglecting Callie in this. And all Callie had done was to be strong and supportive for her. "Agent Garcia says there's a nice little café on the corner. We could go and grab some breakfast?"

"What if anyth-" Callie was silence when Erica placed a finger against her lips.

"I made them all promise that if anything comes up that they will call our cells," Erica told her.

Turning, Callie picked up Erica's cardigan from where it had slipped off her when she had awoken and gently slipped it on her before taking her hand and letting Erica lead them out of the police station.


	8. Chapter 8

Callie would have loved to say they shared a nice breakfast together, but there was far too much tension for anyone to relax. Erica had her cell phone on the table between them, and kept glancing at it, willing it to go off. Still, Callie recognized that she at least was making the effort not to exclude her completely. She reached over and took Erica's free hand, entwining their fingers. It had the effect she had hoped. Erica finally looked up, meeting her eyes. "Hey."

"Hey," Erica managed a small smile.

"Did you manage to get any sleep?" Callie asked.

Erica shook her head. "Sorry I couldn't make you any comfier on the chairs though."

"I was fine. You must have been freezing though." Callie was worried about Erica. She hadn't slept, barely eaten even though breakfast had been her suggestion. She didn't want Erica making herself ill. She was going to need to be strong for Jess when she came home, and even stronger if she didn't.

Erica shrugged. "Wasn't too bad."

Taking a deep breath, Callie decided to change the subject. "Erica, I think I need to call my parents. Tell them what's going on." It was something that had been constantly on her mind since yesterday, but she just didn't know what to do about it. Part of her just wanted not to tell them, keeping the hope that Jess would be returned to them and everything would be fine, but she knew she couldn't hide something like this from them. She had hidden living with Yang, then being with Erica, then living with Erica…but she couldn't hide this from them. And since coming clean to them about everything else, she had learned that maybe it wasn't so hard to tell her parents the truth.

"Callie, I never even thought…Oh God, I'm so sorry," Erica apologized again. The thought of telling Callie's parents had never even occurred to her.

"Erica, will you stop saying so-"

Callie was cut off by Erica's phone, which she dived for the moment the screen lit up. Watching Erica's face, Callie knew something had happened. "We'll be right there." Already on her feet, Callie threw a few notes on the table to cover breakfast and practically ran with Erica.

"What the hell, Erica?"

"The couple who came in just before we left, their son was taken too, from the zoo. They think it's connected."

Callie stopped dead in her tracks, a horrible feeling of dread taking over her entire body. If it was the same people, why had they taken _another_ kid? What had they done with Jess? Erica turned back and grabbed her hand, spurring her back into action.


	9. Chapter 9

"Okay, we're going to ask you to go through the moments leading up to when your son went missing again, this time with Dr Hahn here. Her daughter went missing yesterday. It's just to see if there are any further similarities, to see if anything jogs either of your memories," JJ explained.

Erica listened as the other woman went through what she knew were probably the worst moments of her life. So much of it sounded familiar to Erica, especially when the woman whispered that she only looked away for a second.

"You said you were distracted," JJ prompted in a soft tone, bringing the woman out of her reverie.

The woman quickly wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "Yeah, a little kid was having a tantrum. She was with her dad screaming for her mom." Then she went silent once more.

Callie came to stand behind Erica's chair, wiping her own eyes. She had used the time Erica was sitting with the other couple to call her parents. They had insisted they fly over, but Callie had stood firm, saying that she and Erica were barely coping as it was, and that as much as she appreciated it, if they were to come over all in tears and heartbroken, then it would be too much for she and Erica to bear. She had promised to keep them updated, but asked them to please stay at home for the time being. "I called them, asked them to stay at home though. Thought it would be best, you know how my mother can get, and my dad, well, you know how he deals with emotions."

And Erica did. Faced with any great depth of emotion, Hector Torres channeled it into anger, usually at the closest person. In Callie coming out, and trying to reason with her parents, that had often been Erica. And she knew she wasn't up to facing such a wrath right then. She covered Callie's hand with her own where it rested on her shoulder. "You okay?"

Callie took a deep breath to steady herself. "I think so," she finally nodded, although not quite convinced. It was on breaking eye contact with Erica that Callie noticed the other woman staring at their joined hands. She closed her eyes and took another deep breath, deeply hoping that this woman wasn't the judgmental type.

"I remember thinking it was weird," the woman suddenly started, taking everyone's attention. "The little girl who was having the tantrum. She was screaming for her mommies, not just her mom. I didn't think anything of it before, I just thought she was upset and mixing up her words."

Erica reached into the pocket of her cardigan and pulled out the small pile of photos she had taken out of her purse. She held up the top one. "Was this the girl?" Both she and Callie held their breaths as the woman studied the picture.

"Yeah," she finally breathed. "I mean, her hair is different, it's a different colour, but that's her."

"How sure are you?" JJ asked.

"Sure," the woman said with conviction.

"Okay, then I'm going to ask you to go through to Agent Garcia's office and give her a full description of what the girl, Jess, looks like now, what she's wearing, so that she can put together an image we can distribute and also to describe the man that she's with. It's quite probable we're dealing with a couple here."

"So Jess is still alive?" Callie asked amidst the commotion that had started as the woman was directed to where she was needed.

JJ turned back to Callie to answer. "Jake only went missing a couple of hours ago, and Jess was seen then, so we're highly hopeful." She paused, wondering how much to tell them. They had asked for brutal honesty, but… "Also, when Jess was taken the distraction was woman, when Jake was taken, a man. This suggests a couple together, which is good for the survival of the children. Lone kidnappers often take children for devious reasons," she explained, choosing her words carefully, not wanting to mention sexual assaults and child pornography, which would only serve to further upset everyone. "But couples usually take them to fulfill what they see as a need for family. It can sometimes be role play, or sometimes the couple may have lost children themselves, and this is their way of getting their family back. Either way, the children need to be alive to fulfill their role in the 'family', which gives us more time to find them." She held Callie's gaze for a moment before following after the other couple to Garcia's office.

"She's still alive," Erica whispered under her breath.

Callie heard her and pulled her in to a fierce hug. "She's still alive," she repeated. "And we are gonna get her back," she added, her voice set and determined. She had heard the first twenty four hours were crucial. Jess had survived those. She had beaten the odds once in this. She could beat them again.


	10. Chapter 10

Since the breakthrough, news had been slow. Callie had once again fallen asleep along the chairs outside of the main office, Erica sitting on the floor in front of them, resting one elbow on the chair as she gently played with Callie's hair. It was how she had once again lulled her to sleep after another emotional phone call with her parents. The door behind her opened and she turned her head to see another one of the agents she had seen earlier, the dark skinned man whom Garcia talked fondly of. Agent Morgan, if she remembered correctly. He walked over to Erica on quiet feet, holding out a cup of coffee. "It won't be as good as Garcia's but it's warm and wet."

"I'm a doctor, believe me, I'm used to worse," Erica said with a tight smile as she forced her aching body to stand and accept the cup offered to her.

"You should try and get some sleep."

"So people keep telling me," she nodded. "But I won't sleep until I know where she is."

"What about getting her home for a while?" he asked, nodding towards Callie.

"I already tried that one. She says as long as I'm here, she is, and I'm afraid we're both very stubborn people." Erica paused, then forced herself to speak again. "Look, I'm a doctor, I deal with people on some of the worst days of their lives, and I give it to them straight, so please, just tell me, what are the odds of us getting her back? Be honest."

Morgan sighed. "The first twenty four hours are crucial, and we know she's already survived those so it's looking positive. The un-subs in this case, we think have two children, which is unusual behaviour. Taking multiple children, well, as you know children are difficult to control, and taking more than one suggest that they think they have control, which suggests keeping them alive."

"Keeping them for what?" Erica asked, and then almost instantly shook her head. "Don't answer that."

"Look, I'll be back if we have anything, okay, but seriously , you should think about getting some sleep, maybe get something else to eat," he smiled, heading back towards the office. As if in answer, Erica's stomach growled loudly. She knew Callie would be just as hungry. And so ignoring all her years as a heart surgeon, she carefully fished Callie's phone out of her pocket and found the number for her favourite pizza place.


	11. Chapter 11

**It's so nice to see that people are actually reading this after it's been sitting around on my desktop for so long! That's all I wanted to say, just a BIG HUGE THANK YOU! to you all!**

It was the smell of pizza which woke Callie from her tortured dreams where no matter how hard she looked, she just couldn't find her daughter. Opening her eyes, she saw Erica crouched down in front of her, pizza box in hand. "Hey," the blonde smiled as best she could.

"Hey," Callie did her best to return the smile. She pushed herself up so that she was sitting. "What's that?"

"Oh this?" Erica held up the pizza box. "It might just be your favourite pizza," she shrugged.

"You ordered pizza without me and Jess begging?" She realised she had used Jess's name too late.

Hearing her daughter's name fall so casually from Callie's lips was like a physical blow to Erica, but she didn't let it show. "I could hear your stomach screaming for food from the window." She scooted onto the seat Callie had made available when she sat up.

Callie accepted the pizza box with a genuine smile. "You don't think I'm managing a thing this size do you?"

"I was hoping there might be a few slices in it for me," Erica smiled back, forcing herself to focus only on this tiny exchange between herself and Callie, and not think of any of the horrors that the past couple of days had thrown at them. They managed to keep up the small talk as they ate, both comforted by the simple fact that they were able to talk about other things.

Callie watched Erica as she spoke, not concentrating on what she was saying particularly, but rather how she looked. She still looked tired, but she looked better. She could see that she had reapplied her make-up and taken a brush to her hair, probably in attempt to stop people telling her she should get some sleep. It wasn't a vast improvement, a few nights sleep with their little girl curled up in their arms was what was needed for that, but it did help to make her look a little less…defeated. Without thinking, Callie reached out and cupped Erica's cheek, brushing her thumb across the soft skin. "I love you." It most likely had nothing to do with whatever topic Erica had been trying to distract them with, but she didn't care. It was what she needed to do.

"I love you too," replied Erica without hesitation. She covered Callie's hand with her own, feeling tears sting at her eyes. She didn't think she had ever meant it more. Knowing that Callie didn't blame her for what had happened meant more to her than anything the latina had ever done in the past, and comforted her in a way nothing else could. What she wouldn't say, was that she still did blame herself. How could she not when if she hadn't looked away it couldn't have happened? The knowledge still gnawed at her very being, but knowing that Callie didn't hold her responsible kept the sting of that terrible feeling at bay. If Callie could forgive her for her moments lapse, then maybe in time she could forgive herself, too.

Callie put the pizza box on the floor under her chair, settling herself on the chair with her legs apart. "Come here." She tugged Erica until the blonde settled on the floor in between her legs, her back resting against the front of the chair. As Erica leant her head against Callie's thigh, she felt the latina stroke her fingers through her hair, the gesture still comforting after all this time. The repetitive nature of the action also calmed Callie, who watched as the golden strands fell through her fingers. She felt Erica's arms snake around her leg until she was practically hugging it, and was glad that her presence could afford the blonde a little comfort.

"You two might want to come and have a look at this," said Agent Garcia, sticking her head out of the main office door.

Erica was on her feet immediately, moving out from where she had been settled between Callie's legs. Callie followed her up, letting her arms slide from around the blonde's waist to grasp her hands. They both quickly followed Garcia to her office, where most of the Agents they had been introduced to over the last couple of days were gathered.

"This footage was from two hours ago," Garcia said, pulling up the file. "From a clothes store. The store owner just checked their e-mail fifteen minutes ago and recognized her from the picture I e-mailed to all local stores."

Erica fell into Callie's arms in relief. It looked like their little girl could still be alive. By the time she had pulled herself together enough to extricate herself from Callie the office was all but empty.

"They've gone down to the store. There were two purchases made by the woman, they're hoping to get a couple of prints, maybe talk to a few people who might have seen them, where they went. I'll be the first person they call when they have something, so you're welcome to stay here with me."

Erica offered her a smile. 'Thank you."

"Hey, you bought me pizza, it's the least I can do," smiled Garcia, trying to keep her tone light. "And you only want to know what's going on. If it were me, I'd be the same, so I'm not gonna be the one to keep you out of here."

"You bought her pizza?" Callie asked.

"She bought everybody pizza," Garcia corrected. "Awesome pizza, actually."

"You bought everybody pizza?" Callie feigned disbelief. "I should make my stomach scream at you more often," she smiled, sitting down in the free computer chair. She reached out her arms towards Erica, who let Callie pull her into her lap, resting her head on her shoulder, enjoying the closeness she had spent the last day pushing away. She nuzzled in closer as she felt Callie gently stroke her hair, swinging the chair slowly back and forth.

Garcia glanced at the clock. The team had been gone around fifteen minutes, meaning they would just about be arriving at the store, if they weren't there already, meaning she could no doubt expect a series of phone calls as they asked her to check out whatever they found. Until then, all she could do was wait. She swiveled her chair round, looking at Callie, who had carefully maneuvered Erica so that she was sitting across her lap, her head cradled into Callie's shoulder as the Latina continued to run her fingers through her hair. Looking up, Callie met Garcia's gaze.

"I wondered when she'd finally crash," she smiled.

"Give her five minutes and she'll be back to her pacing," Callie sighed. "She can stay awake longer than any person I've known. Too damn stubborn to sleep half the time."

"It's amazing the way you just _get_ her," Garcia smiled. "Sorry, I've just noticed over the past couple of days. Just the way you know when to give her space, and know when she needs you. It's amazing. You've been really strong in this."

Callie blinked back tears for what seemed like the millionth time that day. "She's carried me through so much. The least I can do for her is be strong in this, let her know that no matter what happens, I don't blame her."

Garcia wasn't surprised to feel tears sting at her eyes as Callie spoke. She was about to reply when a sudden ringing cut her off. She hit the speakerphone button. "What you got for me sugar?"

"We think we got partial prints on the cash, but the cashier can't be sure, she had counted some of the cash to bank some of it so she's not sure what notes are the ones that were handed over, but we're sending everything we have over."

"You got anyone with a record and I'll find 'em. You got anything else?" asked Garcia, already back on her computers.

"Partial plate, and the description of a black family sedan," Morgan followed with a series of numbers and letters.

"I'll have a list of every black car matching that plate in the area before you get back," Garcia assured him.

"JJ and Reid'll be back with you asap, we're gonna hang around here see if we can't follow up a few things. Speak to you later, baby."

"Wait, Morgan!" she quickly stalled him. "You got the direction of that black sedan? I can check camera's on likely routes, give you a heads up where it's headed."

"All we got is it is heading North along the street, no one so far saw where or if it turned off."

"I'll see if I can find what they missed," she smiled. "Catch you later."

"You're a star Garcia."

"The biggest and brightest!" came the smiling response.

The call had barely ended before Garcia was on the case of every lead she had been given. She barely even noticed Callie and Erica standing close behind her.

"You can find all this out so fast?" Callie asked in disbelief.

"I'm good at what I do. I can get you the itinerary for the President if you asked me to," she said with a small smirk. "Now, look, I know I let you in here and all, but right now, well, it would be a good time for you to go get a cup of coffee or something." Erica nodded, taking Callie's hand. She hated people hovering over her patients, and made sure she wouldn't do the same, stepping out of the room with Callie. Her step was lighter than it had been. They had leads. There was progress. They could find their daughter. Callie felt her falter behind her and turned, saying nothing as she hugged her close once more. "You okay?"

Erica nodded. "I just can't believe they could actually find her. These past two days when they weren't finding anything…"

"I know," Callie breathed, not letting her say she had been giving up hope. Letting her say it was admitting she had been doing the same thing, but now, they didn't have to, they had something to hold on to. She could only hope that soon it would be their little girl.


	12. Chapter 12

Erica and Callie watched intently as two of the officers returned. They went directly into the main office and to Garcia. Callie could feel Erica physically shaking as she gripped her arm where they sat on the chairs Callie had drifted off on. She put an arm around the older woman's shoulders and pulled her to her, holding her close as much to anchor herself as to comfort Erica.

In her office, Garcia spared a quick glance towards Callie and Erica. Reid caught her glance and followed her gaze. "They've already been more involved than most, Garcia. If this leads nowhere it'll hurt even more."

"But we finally have something concrete. A car, an address…" she tried to reason, knowing he was right. Knowing he was never anything else but.

"Do you think they could handle it?" he asked, and suddenly he was looking right at her.

She paused before answering. If they got their hopes up on this, and it fell through, would they recover? "They've been through every up and down up till now, and they haven't complained."

"You really think we should have them in here?" JJ asked. She had seen Erica's reactions at the house. Another blow might bring about similar reactions from the woman.

"They already know we have something," Garcia sighed. "So it's either they learn what happened with it for themselves, or one of us has to tell them."

JJ paused, the thought hitting her how she would hate to be on the other side of the glass if it was her kid. She knew some of her views had changed since becoming a mother, but so far she wasn't sure of it was for the benefit of the people she worked with, or the breaking of them. "I'll go and get them."

Erica and Callie had agreed to stay out of the way, and relatively quiet. In reality neither could probably have put together a coherent sentence anyway. Still close together they leant against a spare desk at the back of the room while the agents worked. In the moments while the agents in the field were still arriving at the address, Callie thought of all the moments she had ever been nervous in her life, her driving test, her medical exams, her first operation, her first day as an Attending, working up the courage to kiss Erica for the first time, their first date…and decided that even adding all of them up, they didn't compare to how she felt now. Erica meanwhile, gripped Callie's arm, looking down at the rings on her finger. The ones on her left hand that were Callie's promise of love, and also the one on her right hand, which Jess had forced Callie to buy so that she could give it to Erica, after Callie had explained that her mommee always wore the same ring because that meant that Callie loved her. Jess had wanted her to have a ring from her, because she loved her too. Neither of them knew why Jess demanded that Erica be bought an extra ring and not Callie, even although Callie had shown her the ring that she wore which meant Erica loved her. It was just something that Jess had decided was necessary. And Erica treasured them, always wearing the rings, if not on her fingers, as was the case when she was at work, then they would hang on a chain around the cardio-goddess's neck.

Both of them were plucked from their thoughts from an incoming call. "Hey babycakes, we're here but it looks like we got something wrong. Car was stolen last night, after a break in and returned this afternoon while the family was out. They didn't report it because they realized their insurance was out, didn't know how that would affect things."

"Why return the car?" Reid thought out loud. "If you have two kids, why would you return the thing you had that could contain them and transport them? They have to be changing vehicles." He shook his head. Something wasn't right.

"Or be close by," JJ suggested.

"Morgan can you describe the street?" he asked.

"I got satellite," Garcia added, showing him the screen as Morgan spoke.

"Nice houses, respectable area, not the sort of place you could just walk into unnoticed."

"Anyone see who dropped the ca-" Reid's sentence was cut short by a shout from Morgan.

"OH HELL NO!" From the sounds that followed no one in the room could be quite sure what had occurred. But the one sound that chilled everyone was the sound of gunshots.


	13. Chapter 13

Hotchner ran towards the little girl hurtling across the lawn, ignoring the threat of the shotgun the man at the door was wielding. He covered the little body with his own, drawing his own gun too late as Morgan already neutralized the threat with a shot to the shoulder. He checked the girl for injuries, and miraculously found none.

"She alright," he shouted, waving the other officers to check the house. A few minutes later they returned with a hysterical woman in handcuffs.

"She was the only person inside. No sign of Jake," Morgan sighed.

"He's hiding," came a small voice from Hotchner's shoulder. Jess wriggled to get down and once she was put down, she raced back towards the house, ignoring Morgan handcuffing the man who had wielded the shotgun. Hotchner and Prentiss followed close behind as she made her way through to the back of the house. The two agents watched in disbelief as she pulled open the door to the drier, revealing a petrified looking Jake. "I tolded him to hide in there. No one ever looks inna drier."

Prentiss knelt down in front of the little girl. "And you did really well sweetheart. You want to go and see your mommies now?"

Jess nodded vigorously, letting the woman pick her up and carry her out of the house towards the car.

Meanwhile, back at headquarters, no one was quite sure what to say. They had heard nothing since the gunshots across Morgan's cell. The silence was shattered as a message came over the police radio saying two suspects had been apprehended and one was in need of medical attention, and that ambulance had been called. No other casualties.

"I'm not getting an answer from any of them," sighed Garcia after another round of calling all of the field agent's cells. She glanced round at Erica and Callie, both of whom had gone very white, but remained very quiet.

"Did they say if they were taking any other arresting officers?" Reid asked, feeling uneasy in the silence. "You could contact their radios."

"I got nothing. All I can do it hit redial. Satellites don't update for another three minutes," Garcia replied, hating to be sitting there and be unable to do anything.

Lifting the little girl and taking the boys hand, Morgan led them across the car park towards the police station. Hotchner had gone to the hospital to keep an eye on the man, and Prentiss had stayed with the woman to question her, leaving him with the task of returning two kids to their parents. This was the part of the job he liked, being able to give something back. Stepping into the police station, he set Jess down, pointing in the direction of the tall blonde who had been there for the past forty odd hours. Watching her run towards her moms, he turned to the boy beside him, reassuring him his parents were on their way from the hotel they had stayed in.

"Mom!"

Erica turned in hearing the small voice, and almost collapsed when she saw it actually was her daughter running towards her. Jess threw herself into her arms, Erica hugging her tight and Callie hugging them both.

"Squishy," said Jess, trying to squirm.

"I'll re-inflate your lungs later," Erica smiled, not relinquishing her grip one bit.

"Squishy," repeated Jess, but stopping her attempts at squirming. Instead she tugged the small lion toy from her grasp, her smile matching the blonde's. "I was big and brave lika lion," the little girl told her mommies. "Didn't like being scared."

"You don't need to be scared anymore, sweetie," said Callie in her warm reassuring tones. Still cradled in Erica's arms, the girl reached her tiny arms over to wipe away the tears that ran down Callie's cheeks.

"No cry. Jess no like it when you cry. No be sad," she smiled. "The police gotta bad guys!"

Erica laughed out of sheer relief. She could barely believe she was holding her little girl in her arms again. "They did, honey, they police got the bad guys. You don't need to be scared anymore, cause I am never gonna let you out of my sight again." She wrapped her arms fully around the little girl, smiling a tear filled smile at Callie over her tiny shoulder. The latina smiled back, her hand resting on Erica's, not wanting to crush their little girl any further.

She saw JJ approach cautiously and turned Erica to face the agent, making it known she was welcome to come and talk to them. "Hey," she smiled, taking in the happy smile on the little girls face. "I was just wondering if you would let us ask her a few questions. I know it's still a bit overwhelming, but if we can ask them now, we can leave you alone. We just want to ask what went on. It might be hard to hear, but it can be really helpful if we come across a similar situation again."

Erica just wanted to take her little girl home, but knowing what she had gone through in the past two days, she was willing to help in any way she could to stop it happening to someone else. And if she told the honest truth, Jess seemed to have come out of her ordeal the same optimist she had gone into it. She was quite simply amazing. "Jess, would you mind that? If these people asked you what happened?"

The little girl eyed JJ through narrowed eyes before making her choice. "Okay."

Nodding, JJ led them to where the other agents were, taking a seat against the edge of a desk, and leaving the two vacant seats for Erica and Callie. Erica took Jess up on her lap, keeping her arms loosely wrapped around her little body, not wanting to lose contact even for a second. Callie noticed this, and as much as she wanted to give her little baby a bone crushing hug of her own, she could only imagine what Erica was going through right now. Her emotions would be in overdrive, and Callie suspected Jess would have a hard time getting more than a millimeter from her mother's reach for at least a few days.

"Okay sweetie, now, we just want to ask what happened. If you can, can you tell us from when you were at the zoo," JJ prompted.

Jess looked around at the other agents, some of whom she recognized from the house, and some she didn't know. Garcia watched the little girl's wary gaze travel round the room, and took it upon herself to introduce everyone, and ensure the little girl that these were the good guys, and they were the ones who helped her mommies to find her. Jess looked to Erica and Callie to verify the truth of what she had said, and when they both nodded with smiles, it seemed this was enough to convince her, and she turned back to agent Garcia, smiling at her. "Well if you're the nice people then I suppose I can tell you," she said, settling herself more comfortably on Erica's knee.

"So you were at the zoo," JJ prompted again.

Jess nodded. "At the lions. I wanted to hear them roar! And then a man came and lifted me away. I tried to shout and scream but he was strongerer. I did try mom, I did!" She turned to Erica quickly, making sure her mom knew she had tried to scream for her.

"I know you would have tried, baby," Erica nodded, forcing herself to hold back the tears. She felt Callie's hand slip into hers and held it tightly, drawing comfort from her.

Jess, seeming placated by the fact her mom knew she hadn't gone without a fight, turned back and continued with her version of events. "He put his jacket round me and wouldn't let me scream, and I kickted and I bited, but he wouldn't let go. And he put me inna car that wasn't mom's and he locked alla doors. There was a woman too, she got in and he drove to that house. And they kept telling me it was okay, that mommy didn't mind, but I knewed that they hadn't asked. And I didn't know them. And I was scared." She buried herself into Erica embrace, but kept talking. "They made dinner and they kept trying to play games, and then it was bedtime, and they gave me a drink, and I was _really_ tired, so I slepted on the couch."

Erica visibly stiffened on hearing how after being given a drink Jess was suddenly very tired. The minute they got out of there she was being driven not home, but straight to the hospital so Erica could be sure there was nothing in her system. Glancing up, she met the eyes of JJ, who evidently had similar thoughts.

Callie was also quick to be suspicious of Jess simply nodding off on the couch. "Jess, baby, was it just after the drink you felt really tired?"

Her little girl nodded, and she forced herself to keep a calm outward appearance as she silently checked over her little girls for signs that she had been drugged.

"What happened when you woke up?" It was Garcia who prompted this time, finding it within her to keep a smile on her face as she looked at the little girl.

"The woman said we could go back to the zoo, and mom would be there," Jess said, her little hands holding onto Erica's cardigan as if she was never letting her go again. "And they took the car, and the man took me again, and told me that we were going to get my mom. But he wasn't, and I was crying, cause I just wanted to go home…" She buried her head in Erica's chest for a minute and the blonde quietly reassured her that it was okay, she was safe now, and she would be home soon. "He didn't like me crying and he carried me back to the car, and when he put me in, Jake was there with the woman, and he was crying too, and we were both scared!"

"But you were really brave," JJ told her, and meaning it. She was amazed at how _normal_ the little girl seemed after what she had been through, and at the account she was able to give.

Jess nodded. "Gotta be big and brave lika lion."

Erica couldn't help but smile at the statement her little girl used so often. She and Callie had tried to raise her to be as resilient as they could. They weren't naïve about things. Jess would, at some point face some form of bullying, probably in relation to their lifestyle choice, and they had tried to raise her to know that those people were wrong. That it didn't matter who you loved, it was okay. And that although people might not agree with it, it was what was important to you that mattered, and you had to be big and brave, and stand up for what you believe in.

Breaking the silence again, Jess spoke. "We went back to the house, and the woman was all weirdy happy, like roller doctor," she said, looking at Erica and then Callie, who despite what their little girl was telling them, had to laugh at her comparison. 'Roller doctor' was peds surgeon Arizona Robbins, who's sunny disposition didn't seemed to sit was well with Jess as it did other children. Jess had the tendency to react rather like Erica, usually with a sigh and a rolling of her eyes.

"She's a colleague," Callie explained. "A pediatric surgeon. Goes around on those heely's." Her words, understandably, were met with looks of mild confusion.

"Mom made her run into a trolley," Jess smiled, looking at Erica, who playfully narrowed her eyes at the little girl.

"I didn't make her, I-"

"Forgetted to put it away," Jess finished for her, making a few of the agents laugh as Erica blushed slightly, shaking her head.

"She tends to be overly cheery," Callie tried to explain.

Jess rolled her eyes. "Always too happy smiley."

"Erica and Jess aren't exactly her best friends," smiled Callie, who was then cut off by her daughter.

"Mom isn't either," Jess informed them. "I hearded mom tell her once that if she didn't P-off she was gonna roll her downa stairs!"

"Jess!" squeaked Callie, glancing from the girl to Erica. Blushing heavily, she turned back to face the gathered agents. "I was having a bad day…"

Garcia raised a hand, halting the explanation. "We understand workplace banter, don't worry. We're just lucky that we all get along so well."

"Zona's not bad lika woman was but," added in Jess.

Erica immediately turned her full attention on the little girl in her arms. "Of course she's not baby, she just tries to be happy all the time so the kids she looks after don't too scared."

Callie leaned in, resting her head on Erica's shoulder so she could look her little girl in the eyes. "Because remember, sweetie, not everyone is as brave as you." She glanced up at the agents, who were nodding in agreement. "Now, you gonna tell the nice people about the too happy woman?" _Who's neck I want to break…and never fix_, she added silently in her mind.

"She tried to play with us but we kept telling her we didn't wanna play, we only wanted to go home, and she got real upset, and said she was going to make dinner. And then she made us sit at the table and eat it all, even though we didn't like it…" She scrunched her face up at the memory. And then she tolded us it was bed time, but that we were 'lowded one more sweetie before bed." She fished in her tiny pockets, pulling out three bright red pills. Erica quickly took them off of her, identifying them.

"Muscle relaxants," she said aloud, handing them over to JJ, who dropped them into an evidence bag.

"I'll go check on Jake, inform his parents they'll need to have time tested," said Morgan, starting to move away from the group.

Callie pushed herself to her feet. "I'll come check him out for now, make sure he's okay for now. Then his parents could maybe just follow us to the hospital when we're ready to go and we'll get him properly tested?"

"Sounds like a good plan to me," smiled Morgan, leading Callie over to the little boy in question.

The group silently agreed to halt their talk until it was confirmed that Jake was all right. When Callie returned a few minutes later followed by Morgan, there was a collective sigh of relief. She deposited a further three pills into another evidence bag provided by JJ.

"So Jake tells us you told him to hide the pills under his tongue and pretend to swallow then spit them back out," said Morgan, looking at Jess, who nodded.

She turned and looked up at Erica. "Mommee told me never to take anyfin a docter didn't give to me."

Callie smiled, ruffling her daughter's currently miscoloured hair. "And you did really really well, helping Jake too."

Jess nodded. "The woman thoughted we had swallowed them." She paused. "She got really sad when we kept asking to go home. And then the man got real mad. He kept on shoutin' and shoutin', real loud, asking why she wasn't happy, he had got her what she wanted." Curling further into Erica, she gripped onto her mother tightly. "He looked like he was gonna hit her. She put us uppa stairs inna bedroom then. She kepted coming in but we 'tended to be sleep." She looked over at Callie, seeking confirmation that this was the right thing to have done. When the Latina smiled and nodded at her, she continued. "And then inna morning she took us downa stairs and made us breakfast." She snuck another look at Callie. "It kinda tasted like when you make breakfast."

Callie chuckled, shaking her head. "She means it sucked," she enlightened the agents.

"But we eated it anyways cause we didn't want to make her or the man mad." Again she looked at Callie. "You don't make us eat it when it howible."

Callie smiled at her daughter. "No, I don't sweetie. I put it in the trash and get the cereal out."

"She didn't have no cereal. I asked." Jess shuffled on Erica's lap, her hands still grasping the material of Erica's cardigan. "The woman got sad again that we didn't like her breakfast, and the man started to get mad again. And then he saw the police cars anna people and he tolded her to take us to the back of the house. That was when I told Jake to hide inna dryer cause no one ever looks in the laundry," she looked over at Callie. "'Cept mom, cause she knows it's a good hiding place." She looked up at Erica. "And now you know too, so I is gonna have to find a new place to hide."

"Just don't hide anytime soon, okay?" pleaded Erica.

Jess smiled up at the tearful woman. "No worry mommee, I no wanna hide from you. And even if I did, I know you always find me."

Erica beamed back down at the precious bundle in her arms. "That's right, baby. I'll always find you."

Jess smiled and nodded at this, now ready to continue with her story. "Jake hided inna dryer, but there was only one drier, so I couldn't hide. When the woman came back I tolded her Jake went uppa stairs. The man tolded me to stay where I was or he would kill my mom."

Erica unconsciously tightened her grasp on the little girl, and Callie moved her chair closer, taking her small hand in her own.

"But I tolded him he couldn't because my other mommee would just fix her. He tried to grab me, so I randed out and then there were big bangs. Real loud, and then you got me and I knowed you was police and so you were a good guy." She turned in Erica's arms, wrapping her tiny limbs around Erica's neck. "And you brought me home to my mommees."

The team of assembled agent's could say nothing. Unfortunately, they all too rarely got a victim back alive, and even more rarely did they get one so resilient. For all the little girl had gone through, she didn't seem to be at all badly affected.

Garcia looked at the little girl, her mouth hanging open. "You are amazing. Not even just amazing for a kid, just amazing full stop."

This received nods all round.

"That's cause I got 'mazing moms," grinned Jess.

Grinning at her daughter's words, Erica turned to the agent's. "Not that I don't appreciate everything you've done, but can we get out of here now? I'd kinda like to get her tested and home."

JJ stood. "Of course you would. We didn't mean to keep you longer than necessary. If you could send us a quick message with the results of the tests it would be great," smiled the smaller blonde.

"Of course we will," said Callie, helping Erica to her feet, Jess cradled on her hip. "And Jake's. I'll run the tests myself."

JJ smiled. "That would be great. You've all been amazing."

"Can we call dunkle Mark?"

Callie grinned. "Of course we can. In fact." She fished out her cell phone, pushing a few buttons. "Why don't you phone him on the way out to the car and tell him we'll meet him at the hospital."

"Hopital?" frowned Jess. "You have to work?"

"No sweetie," smiled Erica. "We don't. But we wanna make sure that that you're really okay." At her daughter's eye roll she spoke again. "If you let mommee run the tests we can wait till Zona's in surgery and hide her heely's?"

Jess grinned. "And see dunkle?"

"And see dunkle," confirmed Erica, moving for the door.

Callie turned to the bemused blonde agent. "Mark, the guy you met earlier. He's her biological father. He still plays quite an active role in her life, and she knows who and what he is. She decided since she already had two moms that it would be weird to have a dad too, so she decided he was sort of like a cross between a dad and an uncle, hence…"

"Dunkle," smiled JJ. "That's sweet."

Callie shrugged. "We've tried moving her off of it to an actual word, but she refuses. She says he's kinda her dad, but more fun like an uncle, so it sticks." She turned back to where all of the agents were still assembled. "Thank you. All of you. You brought my little girl back, and stopped my losing my wife and my mind. I really can't thank you enough, or repay you."

Garcia approached the woman. "You don't have to. You helped us bring her back in one piece, that's the reward for us. That's what keeps us in this job. Now go get your little girl."

Callie launched herself at the other woman, hugging her tightly. "Thank you so much." Releasing her grip, she smiled. "So so much!" she said, finally heading for the door. To her little girl, and her gorgeous wife; her family.


End file.
